Questions from a Ghost Writer Wannabe

I'll answer from the perspective of an article writer:

1) What is the reasonable turnaround time for ten 400-word articles?
- 48-72 hours would be reasonable. 4 days would be the absolute maximum in my book if you're just starting out and don't have many clients.

2) What do you expect from a ghostwriter?
- Well written, easy flowing, coherent articles.

3) What would you love to see in a ghostwriter's work?
- Consistancy.

4) What would you hate?
- Bad spelling, grammar, stuffed keywords.

5) Do all articles have to be keyword-optimized for search engines? Is this a requirement?
- If the person wants you to use a specific keyword phrase then yes. You would want a good keyword density but one that is natural to the article. Don't over do it.

[QUOTE=cyberdenizen;2378958] Many of you suggested that I start by being a ghostwriter. I think that is a very good idea. There are many of you who hire ghostwriters through the Warriors for Hire forum. I just have some questions:

1) What is the reasonable turnaround time for ten 400-word articles?

Answer: It depends on your workload, and your familiarity with the topic of the article, research, etc. But if I'm not too busy, my turnaround time on a 400-500 word article is 2-3 days.

2) What do you expect from a ghostwriter?

Answer: Honesty, professionalism, competency and communication. If you tell me you're going to complete a project within a specific time period, I expect the project to be completed, within that time period. And if you can't, I expect you to communicate that to me as well.

3) What would you love to see in a ghostwriter's work?

Answer: Passion, competency, honesty, creativity and thoroughness.

4) What would you hate?

Lack of professionalism, lack of creativity, incompetency and dishonesty.

5) Do all articles have to be keyword-optimized for search engines? Is this a requirement?

Answer: It all depends on the expectations of the client. But my school of thought is this: If you're going to write an article, it might as well be keyword-optimized.

David Jackson

I happen to be a ghostwriter, so I think I can answer these questions based on my experience in what my clients might expect from me:

1) If you are starting out and have zero clients, I would be on top of these 10 400-word articles like your livelihood depended on it. eg) Crank those articles out within 48 hours if you can. If you have a ton of clients (eg- you are already writing articles for others when you get a new request for 10 more articles), then you would have to queue them up in the back of the line. I would try to give a 1 week deadline at the latest. If you get REALLY backlogged, and it would take you several days to even GET to your new customer, then I'd say it's time to start hiring more ghostwriters to work with you. But realistically speaking, I would shoot for 48 to 72 hours max, if you are just starting out.

2) Give them quality. If YOU were hiring a ghostwriter, isn't that what you would want from him or her?

3) Attention to detail. Eloquent use of the English language. Ability to write in a conversational, captivating, and persuasive tone.

4) Poor grammer. Spelling mistakes. Obvious keyword abuse. Overly simplistic text that doesn't offer anything of value to the reader. A ghostwriter should be capable of writing insightful and thought-out articles.

5) It depends on what the client wants. Some clients have a requirement to be keyword optimized according to a specific keyword density. Some just want the keywords to show up only the first and last paragraphs and once in between. Some don't need keyword optimization at all.

As for ghostwriting, it is a great way to earn quick cash in the short term, but if you have only limited time per day, and your ultimate aim is to run article marketing campaigns for yourself, it can leave you little to no time left to work on your own campaigns (at least that is my experience).

Hope this helps.

Thanks to those who gave me their advice. I appreciate them very much. I just have another question. I know that ghostwriters should be able to write articles on any given topic, but could a ghostwriter specialize?

There are writers that are very busy and cannot turn around 10 articles in 48 hours. Some will ask for 7 days for delivery. People expect to get their articles when promised and if something happens they can't be delivered they expect you to give them an update. People don't like it when a writer promises a date, doesn't deliver and they can't contact that person or the writer doesn't get back to them. If they give you keywords use them properly. If they don't put some generic ones in there.

If you offer

quality information without fluff
deliver when they want them
give it to them with their specifications
give the progress updates
information that flows naturally
no errors
give them links to sources you used
give them a list of keywords you used (if they didn't specify)
run them through copyscape and give them print screens of the results

you will get hired again

Hmmm...

I suggest zoning in on a target clientele market first.

How much do you want to be paid for your work? What do you enjoy writing about? What industries do you have specialized research and writing knowledge, training and experience in?

I recommend targeting clients ready to pay good rates. These are usually people or companies with carefully studied and constantly tested business plans, marketing campaigns and financial investments.

Why

These clients usually have stable businesses and deep pockets for marketing.

$1/2/3-per-article clients frequently have shaky business models and weak finances to save their businesses from low income periods. They also have short term business plans and marketing campaigns.

I also recommend specializing in industries where you have the most relevant research/writing skills, knowledge and experience. This usually means you're most likely interested in those industries.

Building your reputation is always a major business and marketing component.

Factor in these in your pricing:

office overheads, even if it's a room or an area in your house, and lack of...

...employee insurance, benefits, a competitive life/work balanced environment, colleagues to look up to, training/business character development/mindset formation sessions, loans and mortgage offers, family health packages, great corporate technology and equipment for work output quality and task completion improvement, etc. etc. etc.

Hope this helps.

When one guy calls you for ten 400-word articles, two or three days.

When ten of them call... things change a bit.

I generally offer 30-day turnaround, then throttle my workload so I can't possibly get more work than I can do in 30 days.

1. 100% original work.
2. Good grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.
3. Competent research on the subject matter.
4. Rapid communication about progress.
5. Meet deadlines.

Higher degrees of the same list. More creativity, better writing, better research, reports progress without being asked, delivers well before deadlines.

Missing elements from the same list.

That's up to the client. If a client wants keyword-optimised articles, he should provide keywords. If he doesn't provide them, he must not want them. Keyword research is a separate skill and should be offered as a separate service if you offer it at all. (I don't.)

Thank you so much, everyone! Your replies have made me realize that I have a lot to learn about ghostwriting. However, I have learned something from each of your posts. More power!

1) What is the reasonable turnaround time for ten 400-word articles?

For me, it takes 2-3 days. Maybe 1 or 2 if you're really motivated,
but I try not to bust my own balls.

2) What do you expect from a ghostwriter?

uh. Him or her to do their...job?

3) What would you love to see in a ghostwriter's work?

High quality, speed, and originality. All of which I'm no
good in (just kidding)

4) What would you hate?

Well, everything that's the opposite of question #3.

5) Do all articles have to be keyword-optimized for search engines? Is this a requirement?

8x out of 10, it isn't. It's so rare I run into a client who wants
keywords for specific articles. It's a request, not a requirement.

1) What is the reasonable turnaround time for ten 400-word articles? >> 1 day

2) What do you expect from a ghostwriter? >> good in grammar

3) What would you love to see in a ghostwriter's work? >> the article is engaging

4) What would you hate? >> poor grammar, incorrect usage of punctuation

5) Do all articles have to be keyword-optimized for search engines? Is this a requirement? >> yes, with the right keyword density

Hello, Warriors!

I have another question for experienced ghostwriters. For instance, a client asks me to write about a topic that is too difficult for me and very little (if at all) is published about it on the Internet. If you were in my shoes, would you reject the writing project? As ghostwriters, what should we do? This is a situation that I hope I will never find myself in. I do not want to disappoint my clients.